Banned From The Ball
by merigirl
Summary: This story takes place one year after 'Sphere and Loathing' Milo and his friends are now in 8th Grade and looking forward to the Big 8th Grade Dance, but to Milo and Amanda's heartbreak the Principal asks Milo not to go for fear of Murphy's Law. Melissa and Zack are outraged and Amanda is heartbroken. How can they help cheer Milo up?
1. Chapter 1

**Banned From The Ball**

(I don't own any of the characters from Milo Murphy's Law. This is my first complete Milo fanfic I'm doing for this site, so bear with me...)

The Murphy family were gathered in the backyard, enjoying a nice fall barbeque...or most of them anyway. Brigette came out of the backdoor with the tray of hamburgers and began to pass them around to her husband- who along with his own father was steering clear of all the trees, especially the ones with low branches, Sara, and Grandpa and Grandma Murphy who had came for dinner. Grandpa Murphy then looked around amuzed.

"Say, where's that grandson of mine, anyway?" He asked, chuckling. "Haven't seen him for hours!"

"He's up in the treehouse with Amanda, Grandpa," Sara explained, pouring ketchup on her burger.

"Wha...wait...wait...you mean to say that you let two 13 year olds go up to that treehouse alone?!"

"Dad, it;s perfectly safe," Martin explained. "We're down here, right below them. We can keep an eye on them and give them their privacy at the same time."

"I dunno, he is 13, and he's up there alone with a girl," Grandma Murphy pointed out.

"Better than being alone in a bedroom," Grandpa pointed out.

"Mom, we trust them," Brigette said. "It;'s only an old treehouse up there, just a table, and some benches, and some trunks containing some toys he used to play with when he and Melissa were younger. That's all that place contains. And they know we're down here." She quickly glanced up to where the treehouse was.

"Yeah. Grandma. All they do up there is talk," Sara said.

"So this ain;t the first time she's been over?"

"No, she's been coming over for a while. Either with his other friends or by herself, and they often go up there when they're alone to talk."

"They're in a public place and at the same time they can have privacy," Brigette explained. "It works out that way."

"I dunno..." Grandpa said doubtfully.

"Dad, we trust our son," Martin said. "They're only talking up there, that's it."

"Talking," Grandpa snorted. "That's not what they called it when I was young!"

Meanwhile Amanda and Milo were sitting up in the old treehouse on one of the benches drinking some ice tea Brigette brought up earlier. Milo was just finishing telling her the story of how he got his backpack.

"And after Veronica gave me her backpack, I've been wearing it from that day to this," Milo finished up.

"She sounds like she was a really nice baby-sitter," Amanda said.

"Yeah. She was the best ever. She was really prepared for almost anything Murphy's Law could do, and she never complained about it. She and Dad taught me all I know and I never forgot any of it."

"Wow. No wonder you're so prepared!"

"Yeah. Veronica actually works at that Medevil Themed Pizza Place down the road. We can go there sometime and I'll introduce you to her, I think she'll like you a lot."

"She sounds really nice."

"Yeah, she is." Milo smiled at her. "So, how's the planning going for the Big 8th Grade Dance?"

"It's going very well," Amanda said happily. "We just finished the committee meeting for the decorations and we just ordered the balloons in the school colors."

"I can't wait to see it myself! So what kinds of food are gonna be served there?"

"We're going to have a meeting with the caterers we've selected soon. They're going to serve eggplant parmasian, meatballs and spagetti, roast chicken.."

"Hmm...I'm getting hungry just talking about it!"

"Milo...did you talk to Zack about the band playing?"

"Yep, and we'll be there with bells on!"

"I'm so glad, Milo."

"This is gonna be great. I've been looking forward to this dance since the first day of 6th Grade. It should be a blast."

"We're going to make sure it is! This is one of the biggest events of 8th Grade!"

"I know, every time I passed by pictures of it in the hallway every year I've been looking forward to being able to go myself!"

Amanda smiled. "Me too."

Milo grinned slyly at her. "You're actually gonna be having fun this time, right?" he teased.

Amanda laughed. "Yes. Teresa's already agreed to help me with my dress," she explained, referring to her older sister who sometimes helped her mother with her seamstress work.

"I bet you'll be so beautiful."

"Oh Milo, thank you," Amanda smiled at him. She looked down at her glass of iced tea, suddenly feeling a bit shy. She took a sip from it and looked at Milo again. "Milo...may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Amanda."

"Milo...will you go to the dance with me?"

Milo looked surprised and then delighted. "I'd love to, Amanda! Truth be known, I was getting up enough nerve to ask you."

"Why would it take nerve to ask me?"

"I just...wanted it to sound right."

"No one ever told me I was intimidating before!"

Milo laughed. "You're not. You're really sweet and kind and a really talented organizer and planner. You're really smart and really nice to be around."

"I know I wasn't always that way to you," she admitted, staring at her glass of tea.

"It's OK, Amanda," Milo assured her. "I know you were nervous about Murphy's Law. I mean I can't blame you, I'm the first one to admit that it's completely unpredictable and you never know what might happen from one moment to another. I know how precious your hours are to you, and I understand why you felt you had to avoid it."

"I never should have even tried to," Amanda said. "There were so many years that I lost that could have been spent getting to know you and spending time with you. I'm still ashamed of how I acted before to you."

"Like I said, it's OK," Milo put his hand on her shoulder, causing Amanda to feel warm all over. "Don't worry about it anymore."

Amanda put her hand on his and squeesed it back. "Thank you, Milo," she took another sip of her iced tea before changing the subject. "Milo? Have you ever...kissed a girl?"

"One time," he admitted

"Oh," Amanda said quietly. "Was she pretty?"

"I don;t really remember," he said. "I was blindfolded. It was a long time ago, at a party. We were playing Blind Man's Bluff. To be honest, I think it was only a kiss on the cheek. I don;t think that counts."

"I was kissed twice," Amanda admitted. "One time when I was about six I was learning how to ride my bike in the park when I lost my balance and fell down. And this nice man picked me up and helped me clean my skinned knee, kissing it. Another time my family and I went to a family picnic given by my Papa's work and one of his business partners kissed me on the cheek when Papa introduced me. I don't think either one of those count either."

"I know Sara got her first kiss recently with Neil when they were out on a picnic in the park. She was so ecstatic about it it was all she could talk about for a while."

"Really?" Amanda said.

"Yeah, we could all tell. She didn't mention Dr. Zone even once that entire day!" Both he and Amanda laughed at that.

"Sara's really nice though."

"Yeah. She's a great sister." They were both startled by the clock chiming on the wall of the treehouse. Amanda gasped when she saw it.

"4:00 already?" She stood up. "When did it get to be 4:00? Oh, I have to get back home."

"OK," Milo said, standing up. "I'll walk you to your bike."

"I had a really good time, Milo."

"I did too," he stood up and reached his hand out to her, gentlemenly helping her off the bench. They made their way down the ladder of the treehouse.

"You have to go already?" Sara asked. "Wanna stay for a while and have a burger?"

"I would love to but I can;t, I have to get home, Mama is already making dinner."

"We hope you can come back again soon," Brigette said.

"Thank you, I hope so too," Amanda said politely.

"It was nice meeting you, Amanda," Grandma Murphy said

"It was really nice meeting you, Mrs. Murphy," Amanda said politely. Milo walked her over to her bike. "I enjoyed our talk," Amanda, said, taking his hand gentily. "Your grandparents are really nice."

"Yeah, they like you," Milo said. "So, see you tomorrow?"

"I'll wait for you, Zack and Melissa by the front door of the school."

"OK, see you then!" Milo smiled at Amanda as she put on her helmet and rode off. He knew he should get back to his family, but he couldn't resist pulling out his phone, wanting more than anything to call his #1 best friend and tell her he had gotten a date to the 8th Grade Dance! "Hey, Melissa!" he said.

"Hey Milo, what's up?"

"You'll never guess what!"

"What?"

"Amanda is gonna be going with me to the 8th Grade dance!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah! We were talking in the treehouse and the subject came up and...we're going together!"

"Get OUT!"

"It's true!"

"That's great, Milo! The four of us can all go together!"

"Yeah like one huge double date!"

"Oh this is gonna be so cool! Hey, ya know what we should all do this weekend?"

"A real double date?"

"Ya read my mind! Let's do pizza and a movie to celebrate!"

"Great! You call Zack and we'll ask Amanda tomorrow morning at school."

Meanwhile Amanda was biking back to her home feeling like she was on top of the world. She couldn't keep the huge smile off her face, if this was the movie E.T she was sure her bike would take off flying, with or without an alien in the basket. When she pulled up to her house and put her bike in the garage she walked in grinning from ear to ear. Her mother stuck her head into the living room.

"Oh, good, you're home quirida*, how was your day?"

"OK, Mama," she said, walking up to her room.

"Is your friend doing alright?"

"Mmm- Hmm," she said as the continued to walk upstairs. Along the way she passed by her sister Teresa's room, where she was laying on her bed with her friend Stacey. Teresa saw Amanda dreamily walk past her and she and Stacey looked at each other. Teresa raised her eyebrows at her sister's behavior and she and Stacey both came into Amanda's room where she was staring out a window.

"Amanda?" Teresa said quickly as she walked toward her sister. "Amanda?" She waved her hand in front of her face as Stacey made buzzing sounds with her hands over mouth. "Earth to Amanda! Tierra a Amanda! ** Come in, Mandy! Can you read me?"

"Hmm," Amanda said dreamily.

"Oh and by the way, Gloria Estevan just called. She's coming over for dinner."

"OK," Amanda said absently.

Teresa snapped her fingers in front of her sister, causing her to jump. "Mandy! You're not listening to me at all!"

"Huh?" Amanda looked at Teresa and Stacey.

"Where were you just now, planning a party on Mars?" Stacey asked. "Don't think I've ever seen you like this!"

Just then Teresa's eye grew wide and she said, "Ooohhh!" and covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a giggle.

"What?" Stacey asked, curiously.

"Oh Mandy," she began in a sing-song voice. "Did you happen to be at a certain someone's house this afternoon?"

"I was over at Milo's."

"Oh? Milo?" she grinned.

"Milo?" Stacey asked.

"Her boyfriend," she explained with a sly grin.

"He is NOT my boyfriend!" Amanda said.

"Yet!" Teresa corrected.

"Teresa, he just turned 14, I'm still 13! We're way to young for any kind of a relationship!"

"Oh, I don't think so," Stacey said. "You can like someone at any age, I think."

"And you know what they say," Teresa said, quoting Garfunkel and Oates, "Like can lead to like like, and like like can lead to love!"

"And we saw the way you were looking out that window just now! You can't tell me you weren't thinking about him."

Amanda's face turned red. "Maybe I was..." she admitted.

"I knew it! Sooo...how was your date?"

"We did not go out on a date!" she said. "I went over to his house and we just talked. Nothing else happened. We were just talking, that's it."

"That's a start," Teresa said. "What were you talking about?"

"Things," Amanda said. "We had some ice tea and were..mainly talking about the dance."

"So to review, he bought the refreshments, and you two were talking about shared interests."

"Sounds like a date to me," Stacey said.

"What exactly about the dance were you talking about?" Teresa said.

"A lot of things. The decorations, the music, the food.."

"The dates?" Amanda didn;t reply to that. "Mandy? Did you happen to ask him to the dance, mi hermana pequena***?"

Amanda looked up and smiled. "Yes," she admitted.

Stacey then held her hands over her mouth, "Affirmative, Houston, we have a confirmed boyfriend, send backup!"

Amanda tried to blush or looked embarressed, but to her surprise she wasn;t able to. In fact she felt proud to be going to the dance with Milo. She looked out the window again, smiling from ear to ear.

*- Dear

**- Earth to Amanda

***- My little sister.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Milo Murphy's Law or any of the characters, and I hope along with all of you that this show will get a 3rd season

The next week Milo Zack and Melissa were walking down the hallway toward the music room to meet Mort there for band practice, chatting a mile a minute about the upcoming dance.

"This is gonna be great," Milo said, "I've been waiting for this ever since 6th grade."

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Zack asked.

"Definitely," Milo answered. "Wait till you see it, it;s gonna be great. We better go shopping for some new suits this weekend, then we better see about corsages. This is a really formal thing. Kind of like a High School Prom, only it's for 8th graders. And knowing Amanda it's gonna be the biggest event of THE year!" Melissa couldn't help but notice the proud tone on Milo's voice when he said that. She exchanged a grin with him, happy because her best friend was happy.

"Where is Amanda anyway?" Melissa asked.

"She had to go to a few committee meetings this afternoon, then her sister wanted her to come home early so she can work on her dress."

"This is gonna be big, huh?"

"Huge!" Milo smiled from ear to ear. Zack couldn't help but nudge him.

"Sooooooo...how ARE things going with you and Amanda?" he asked. Melissa nudged him with her arm, but Milo didn't seem to mind.

"Great! I already know what kind of corsage I want to give to her, I saw the perfect one in the flower shop just this weekend! It's her favorite color, and I know it;s gonna look so pretty on her. Of course I'm probably gonna have to ask Mom to go in there and order it for me. Don;t wanna take a chance on the glass breaking...Murphy's Law and all that." Milo held his accordian case close. "I still can;t believe that she and I are actually gonna be going to this together. I mean...of course I've thought about what it would be like to take her...ya know...but I never thought...I mean...you know...her...and me...she loves order and she's an amazing planner..."

Melissa put her arm around her friend. "Why not? Ya are a great guy, Milo, once you put aside Murphy's Law, and she knows that." She hugged him close. "No, really, I mean that! You're smart, fun, clever.."

"Ya can play a killer accordian!" Zack said. "You ever decide to serenade Amanda with the sweet melodies of it.." he stopped when Melissa punched his arm.

Milo laughed. "Oh no...no, no, no. I don't think a serenade on an accordian would sound too good." Just then they happened to pass Principal Milder in the hallway.

"Oh, Milo, there you are," she said, stopping him suddenly. "I've been looking for you, I need to talk to you for a moment."

"Sure, Principal Milder."

The Principal took Milo to a corner of the room. Unknown to her Melissa and Zack secretly edged closer to hear. "Milo," she began uncomfortably, "Are you planning to go to the dance?"

"Oh yes, Ma'am," Milo said. "But don;t worry, I promise I'll be extremely careful and I'll load my backpack with extra stuff to make sure things go all right."

"Ah...yeah..about that," she said. "Look, Milo, this is nothing personal. You're a fine young man and everything, and you do have good manners, which are very much appreciated. But.."

"Yes?"

"Well, this 8th Grade dance is a really big event. I mean, the students look forward to it all year,"

"Oh I know. I definitely am! I'm gonna get my brand new suit this weekend and.."

"Yeah, Milo, look, again nothing too personal. But well, with you and Murphy's Law...well. I think it would be better to not take any sort of chances. This is a big event, the Dance Committee is putting in a lot of effort and work into this."

"Oh I know, Amanda's been telling me about it."

"Yeah, well, all things considered, Milo...I just don't think it would be a good idea if you came."

At those words Milo turned pale. "I...I can't go?" Melissa and Zack gasped when they overheard that.

"I'm sorry, Milo, again it's nothing personal. But this is the Biggest Event of 8th grade and we just can't have Murphy's Law messing it all up. You understand, don't you? Everybody has put in a great deal of effort into making this event amazing...and we just don't want to disappoint them."

"But, I would be super careful! I would load up my backpack and make sure..."

"Milo, Milo, look it's not that I don't believe you, but I just can't take a risk. I'm sorry, but this dance means a lot to so many people, and I'm afraid I just can;t let you go."

"Despite the fact that this dance meant a lot to Milo too," Melissa said angrily. Zack had to hold her back, even though he felt the exact same way.

"Now, Milo, your invitation, please?"

Milo slowly took off his backpack and rooted through it for the invitation that was mailed to all the students earlier that week. He slowly handed it to her. "Ok..." he said softly, hiding the tears that were in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Milo, but this is really for the best." Milo just nodded and quickly walked toward the exit with his head down so no one would see him cry. Melissa ran out the door after him and Zack followed after secretly giving the Principal a dirty look.

The Principal turned to go into her office...only to run into Ms. Murawski, Mr. Drako, and Ms. White.

All giving her looks that could melt glass.

Meanwhile Amanda was home, pacing around the kitchen in her bra and a slip, watching Teresa putting the finishing the touches on a communion dress that she was converting into a party dress.

"Por favor, Teresa, Make the neck lower," she pleaded.

"Stop it, Amanda," Teresa said.

"One inch! How much can one little inch do?"

"Too much."

"Teresa, it's supposed to be a dress for dancing, no longer for going to Church!"

"With some of these boys, you can start in dancing and end up going to Church!"

Amanda got offended. "He is NOT like that and you know it!"

"I didn't say HIM, I said boys in particular."

"Por favor, one little inch! Una pequena pulgada*..." she tried to give her sister a pair of scissors.

Teresa took them and put them to her side. "Mama made me promise..."

Amanda gave her a wicked look and paced around the kitchen. "I think I will tell Mama and Papa about what you and Christopher were doing in the balcony of the movies last Saturday instead of chaparoning us!"

Teresa stood up. 'I will tear this dress to shreads!"

"NO! But maybe if you could manage to lower the neck?" she said, giving her sister the scissors again.

Teresa again took them. "Next year."

"Next year we will be in high school, we will be old enough to go steady, and no one will care if it's down to there!"

"Down to where?"

"Down to here!" she indicated her waist.

Teresa then stood up. "Here, it;s finished!" she helped her sister into it. "Well?"

Amanda gasped as the took in the lovely dress. "Oh eh...it;s a beautiful dress! I love you!" she happily embraced her sister as her parents came into the kitchen.

Her mother gasped. "Amanda...oh Miel**, you look so beautiful!"

Amanda spun around happily. "Look Papa, look what Teresa did! Is it not beautiful?"

"Yes.." he went over and kissed his daughter. "You look lovely! Milo's gonna be a lucky fellow!"

"Now that's a sentence you don't hear everyday," Teresa couldn't resist saying. Just then the phone rang Her father went to answer it.

"Hello? Ah, Milo, hello, how are you? Yes, she's right here, hold on," he took the phone to Amanda. "It's for you, Miel, it's your date. He wishes to converse with you."

Amanda happily took the phone. "Hi, Milo." Slowly her face fell. "What?! But...who told you that? But...but why? But...that's not right! How could...uh huh...yeah...sure...yes, I understand. Right, OK,...bye." She slowly hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" her mother asked.

"Milo...he can;t take me to the dance. The Principal just told him that because of Murphy's Law...he can't come to the dance at all. He;s not allowed to." Her family stared at this news open-mouthed. Amanda pulled off the dress. 'I guess I..won;t be needing this.." she gave iot back to Teresa and ran up to her room.

*- One little inch

**- Honey.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Milo Murphy's Law or any of it;s characters. Just waiting until we get season 3.

Mort was waiting in the music room for the rest of the band to get there. He poked the drums absently, wondering how much longer he'd have to wait when he finally heard footsteps outside getting louder and louder, but they didn't sound too eager to him. Soon the door opened and Melissa angrily marched inside along with Zack. "Can you BELIEVE it?!" Melissa cried out. "That WITCH!"

"What happened?" Mort asked. "Are we gonna rehurse for the Dance?"

"We are NOT playing at the Dance!" Zack said.

Mort looked shocked. "We're not?"

"No," Melissa said. "In fact we're more than likely not going to the dance at ALL!"

"Why, what happened?" Mort asked. He looked around. "Hey, where's Milo?"

"He wanted to be alone for a while," Zack said.

"He wanted to call Amanda in private to give her the bad news," Melissa said.

"Why? Will someone tell me what happened?" Mort asked.

"Milo can;t come to the dance," Melissa explained.

"WHAT?!" Mort said, standing up.

"Principal Milder just told Milo that because of Murphy's Law he can't come to the 8th Grade Dance," Zack explained.

"He can't come?!" Mort asked. "But...he was so excited about it, he told me all about the new suit he was gonna get and was making suggestions about the songs we should play.."

"I know," Melissa said. "You should have seen his face. I knew he was gonna start crying any minute...it broke my own heart. I hate seeing him like that!"

"I only saw him like that once before," Zack said. "When Elliot said that the world would be better off without him. He really did cry then."

"He tried to hold it in," Melissa said, remembering. "But I knew he wasn't gonna. He kept his face down and he just stared at the pavement, he didn't look to the right or left. Finally we caught up to him. All I had to do was touch his arm and I saw the tears start. I put my arm around him and the dam broke. All Zack and I could do was hold him as he cried into our shoulders. We tried to assure him that Elliot was a jerk and a creep. I personally wanted to take his sign and crack his head open with it!"

"Oh that WAS a bad day," Mort said, remembering.

"And this is a worse one," Melissa said. "Milo asked to be excused from practice today after he wiped his eyes. He wasn't in the mood, and he had to call Amanda."

"This isn't right!" Mort said. "Milo can't help Murphy's Law, and any damage that happens he always manages to fix!"

"We know that and you know that!" Zack said. "And Principal Milder SHOULD know that!"

"Milo looked so pale and his eyes were so glassy, I knew he was gonna burst into tears again any minute," Melissa said.

"I don't blame him," Mort said, putting away his sticks. "I don't feel like playing now myself."

"We're not playing," Zack said. "We're not playing this Dance or anywhere if Milo can't join us."

"I'm with you," Melissa said. "We're a team and if one of us is out, we're all out!"

"Agreed," Zack said.

"We gonna tell Amanda tomorrow we're out?" Mort asked.

"Yeah. I think Amanda will understand," Melissa said. "If anything I bet she's gonna feel the same way we do."

"Besides, it'll give her more time to find a new band."

"So I guess this means you and Zack aren;t going to the Dance."

"Well, Milo told us to go ahead. He said that he wouldn't want to be responsible for us missing the Biggest Event of the 8th Grade. He said we should be there."

"Well, Milo didn't tell that to me, and I'm telling you right now I'm NOT going," Mort assured them. "No way am I now, I don't care how big it is. I won't be involved in it. Sorry, Amanda, but I won't."

Lydia then came into the music room. "Guys? Tell me what I just heard through the grapevine isn't true!"

"Ya mean about Milo not being allowed to go to the Dance?" Zack asked. "Yeah, it's true."

"What?!" she asked, outraged, which was very rare for Lydia. "Ya mean Principal Milder actually did that?! For real?!" 

"For real," Zack said.

"That's not fair," she said. "This is supposed to be the dance for the ENTIRE 8th Grade! And Milo's a part of the 8th Grade! He should be allowed to go!"

"He SHOULD be, but he's not," Melissa said. "And for that matter, neither is this band! As of right now, we drop out."

"Oh boy...this is all Amanda needs to hear," Lydia said.

"Well, I'm SORRY," Zack said. "But this happens to be our best friend that got snubbed here!"

"I know, I know, I don't blame you, I don't blame you," Lydia said, trying to calm them down. "All I'm saying is that this is gonna be a blow to Amanda. I mean first Milo can't go with her and now she's gonna have to find another band," almost as if she was psychic her phone rang. She glanced down at it. "I gotta take this, like now," she sped out of the room.

"Three guesses," Zack said.

"Well, looks like Lydia is doing the honors for us," Melissa said.

"So, what do we do now?" Mort asked.

"I don;t know about you, but I'm gonna try to find Milo again," Melissa said.

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Zack said.

The moment they left the music room Lydia came back in as Mort was finishing packing up his drums. "Where are Zack and Melissa?" she asked.

"They left to find Milo, probably to comfort him some more. How's Amanda doing?"

"She's a mess. She's trying to be mature about this whole thing, but I know her way too well. Man, this really bites, Mort. Just yesterday we were all smiling and happy and looking forward to this dance, now our best friends are miserable, we don't have a band now, and this Big Event is blowing up right in poor Amanda's face."

"And Murphy's Law can't be blamed for it at all this time," Mort finished up.

"Exactly, it's the fault of our cowardly principal."

"What did ya expect, you remember what she said about Milo when we got trapped on that deserted island?"

"Yeah, I can;'t believe she would SAY that when he was standing right in front of her!"

"Yeah, well she also said that we could use the music room to practice as long as Milo agrees never to walk past her office again."

"What?! When did she say that?!"

"A while ago. No one else seemed to mind, I guess cause we could use the music room anytime we want to to practice."

"But that's not right, she shouldn't have said that. Wonder if Amanda knows Principal Milder said those things."

"We shouldn't bother her with that, she's got enough on her mind."

"Well, we shouldn't let that woman get away with this either."

Mabel from the football team came into the room just then. "Hey, guys, what;'s going on? I just saw Melissa and Zack storm right out of here and there's a rumor that someone was banned from the dance?"

"Yeah, Milo," Mort told her. "He can't come to the dance, and Melissa and Zack are really pissed off about it."

"So's Amanda," Lydia said, waving her phone.

"What?" Some more members of the football team then came into the room.

"Guys, what's going on?"

"What's happening, we just heard a rumor, some people got banned from the dance? What happened?"

"Wasn't any of us, was it? I mean, OK I got a D on my last essay, but..."

"No, guys..." Mort said and he and Lydia explained everything. When they were done the students looked at them with open mouths.

"Mort, shut that door! Make sure no one can hear!"

"This is unbelievable, can she do that?!"

"She apparently already did!"

"That's not right, Milo is a student here, just like all of us! This dance was supposed to be for him too!"

"Yeah, and well he does suffer from Murphy's Law, sure, but that doesn't make him a bad person! I mean look how many games we won because of him!"

"Yeah. He came through for us, we gotta come through for him! Mort, round up the rest of the team and get them in here."

"What about Zack? I think he wants to be with Milo now."

"Yeah, he's excused, but get the rest."

Meanwhile Milo was sitting on a bench in the park, being careful to not stand under any trees. His head was in his hands and he was struggling hard not to cry, even though he could feel the tears bulding up inside of him. He had just got done calling Amanda, which was probably one of the hardest things he ever had to do. He was barely even aware of the noise near him until he heard the voices of two familiar people.

"Hey, Milo! Good to see ya!" Dakota and Cavandish then came over to the bench. "How are ya doin?"

"OK, I guess..." Milo said, glancing up. "Hey, where;d you get that awesome new equipment?"

"We received promotions after our adventure with the Octilians," Cavandish explained.

"Congradulations," Milo said, managing a small smile.

"Hey, why so glum, chum?" Dakota asked. "This isn't like you at all."

"Are you all right, Milo?" Cavandish asked, sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I guess," Milo answered.

"Come on, Milo, what's wrong? Ya can tell us," Dakota said.

Milo sighed and explained everything to his two alien hunting friends. They both stared shocked at the news.

"Ya kidding me," Dakota managed to say.

"No," Milo said honestly. "That's what Principal Milder said. She doesn't think it would be a good idea if I was at the dance. She's too afraid of Murphy's Law."

"Funny, I thought the whole concept of 8th Grade Dance was that the whole 8th Grade was invited," Dakota pointed out.

"Didn;t you point out that you have the backpack of yours and you know what to do with it, and that you're a quick thinker and all?" Cavandish asked.

"I tried to," Milo said. "But she just didn't wanna take any chances. She said the dance was the biggest thing in the whole 8th grade and it meant a lot to so many..."

"Wouldn't it mean a lot to you?" Dakota asked.

"Yeah," Milo admitted. "I would have gotten to take Amanda."

"Amanda?" Dakota asked, amuzed. "Who's she? Your girlfriend?"

Milo managed to smile a bit. "Kind of," he admitted. "I mean...we...we haven't made anything official yet...or anything..."

"Heeeey," Dakota said, affectionatly punching him on the arm. "You go, there!"

"You KNOW who Amanda is!" Cavandish pointed out, "That was the girl who texted us during that concert to bring the fireworks!"

"I know, I met her at a party too," Dakota said. "Milo knows I'm just kidding, right?" Milo gave him a small smile. "Seriously, she's a lovely girl, ya got good taste there!"

"Well, I think this is outragous!" Cavandish said. "After you just happened to help people on TWO planets and you can;t even get any respect when you get back!"

"Sounds kinda familiar, huh?" Dakota said.

Just then Melissa and Zack ran over to him. "There ya are, Milo," Melissa said. "Oh, hey, Dakota. Hey, Cavandish."

"Hello, Melissa. Zack," Cavandish stood up so Melissa and Zack could sit on the bench next to Milo.

"How are ya doing, Milo?" Zack asked.

"Ok, I guess."

"Did ya talk to Amanda?"

"Yeah...gave her the news," Melissa put her arm around his shoulders.

"How'd she take it?"

"She did seem to understand. But I think she feels the same way I do."

"I know we do," Zack said, putting his hand on Milo's shoulder.

"Milo, we've decided that if you can;t go to the Dance, we won;t play. We already told Mort we're out."

"I can;t ask you to do that. You gotta play, they need you."

"No, Milo, not without you. You're an important part of this band. If you're out, we're all out!"

"But Amanda will be crushed."

"It shouldn't even be Amanda's problem. Let the Principal worry about this."

"We're a team, Milo. If you can;t play in the band, there won't BE a band."

"Well, you guys are still going to the dance, right?"

"Milo..."

"Guys...look this is really sweet of you and everything, but I can;t ask you to skip the dance for me! This is the biggest event of the entire 8th Grade aside from Graduation. You guys have to be there."

"Milo," Zack began.

"Guys, don't skip this just for me. I couldn't ask you to do that. You guys should go and have a good time. Don't worry about me. I gotta obey what the Principal said, don;t skip this just because of that."

"Excuse me please, Milo," Cavendish said quickly. "A few things have just come into my head. And I'm going to say them!"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don;t own Milo Murphy's Law or any of it;'s characters. Just waiting for any announcement of a season 3 (anywhere but Disney +)

Special thanks to my good friend ArendAlphaEagle for his help with this chapter

"I really wish you'd let me talk ya out of this," Dakota said to Cavendish as they made their way to the school the next afternoon.

"Dakota, I would hope that no person of authority would treat a child like that! I would hope NO ONE would treat a child like that! This woman needs to explain herself and she needs to do it right now!"

Dakota opened his mouth to point out the hypocrasy in Cavendish's own words, but decided not to. Besides, he figured, they didn't know Milo too well at the time, so the whole thing was basically a big misunderstanding. This principal did know Milo for years, and it was obvious his feelings WERE very hurt over this.

As they entered the school building they were greeted with huge shouts of 'HELL NO, HE CAN GO! HELL NO, HE CAN GO! HELL NO, HE CAN GO!'. As they approached the office they found it was coming from a whole group of the 8th graders all sitting by the entrance to the Principal's door. They were all waving signs that said things like:

'Everyone attends a dance!'

'The Principal is unfair!'

'People with conditions have rights too!'

'8th Grade dance is for the WHOLE 8th Grade!'

Cavendish and Dakota carefully made their way to the Principal's door, carefully stepping around the sitting students, mumbling 'Excuse me, pardon me, pardon me, children.'

"'Scuse me, pardon me," Dakota followed. "Scuse me...hi kids," he said to Zack and Melissa, who were right in the middle of this, obviously leading this protest. "'Scuse me, Scuse me..."

Finally they reached the door and Cavendish knocked on it angrily, waiting for the 'come in'.

Cavendish opened up the door. "Excuse me, are you the woman who runs this establishment?"

"Yes, I am."

Canvendish and Dakota then stormed into the room. "Well, you are JUST the person I want to see!" he exclaimed, slamming the door.

"Got a minute?" Dakota asked.

"A minute, yes. What may I do for you?"

"It's what you haven't done, first and foremost," Cavendish began. "In particular your treatment of our good friend Milo Murphy."

"What's this we hear that he can't attend this school dance?!" Dakota broke in.

"Well, given the circumstances of Murphy's Law we feel that it wouldn't have been a good idea for him to attend."

"What we, who's we, what is this we?" Dakota broke in. "From what we heard from Milo only YOU told him he couldn't come!"

"Were other teachers involved in this decision?" Cavendish asked. "Because if there were we would very much like to speak to them."

"No, it wasn;t the other teachers." Milder answered. "In fact quite a lot of them feel the exact way the both of you do about this."

"Either you overturn this decision, or we go straight to the Superintentent of this place and tell him what an unfair form of behavior this was!"

"That...isn;t exactly going to work."

"Pray tell, why not?"

"I didn;t have final decision in this."

"Then who, may I inquire to interrogate?" Cavendish asked.

"The Superintendent of the School, the one you would complain too," Milder admitted. "We had a meeting a few days before and he said that because of the importance of this event, and the chance of Murphy's Law acting up it wouldn;t be a good idea for Milo to come. Believe me, this was not my overall original idea and I did fight against it.."

"You apparently didn;t fight enough," Dakota said. "Breaking the heart of a poor innocent kid who's been nothing but good and respectful to you!"

"Look," Milder said. "The school is under a tight budget already as it is! Ever since that irresponsible school board went and bought that yacht we've been in a lot of financial trouble.."

"And that's HIS fault?!" Cavendish said. "You're going to blame an irresponsible treasury department on him?!"

"No, that's not what I'm doing!"

"Ya wanna pin anything else on him too?!" Dakota said. "Does the Superintendent of yours wanna blame bad school lunches or leaky faucets on him?! Why not blame one too many snow days on him too!"

"Look!" Midler said. "I did not like doing this! You think I wanted to?! But I am NOT the main bad guy here!"

"So you feel you're being blamed on something that's not entirely your fault? Well, now ya know how Milo feels!" Dakota said. "And it;'s not like you're 100% innocent!"

"May we quote you, 'We're trapped on this island with a walking disaster magnet!'"

"Nice way to talk about a child there! Right in front of him too!"

"Look, when I said that..."

"How DARE you talk about a child like that! He's a 14 year old kid!" Cavendish exclaimed.

"Look, it's like I said the Superintendent backed me into a corner here! We felt too many things could go wrong if Milo was invited!"

"But doesn't he always try to fix the things when they fall apart? Sometimes even improve them as a lot of your students would definitely point out!" Cavendish pointed out.

"I tried to tell him that but he wouldn't listen."

"You're breakin my heart," Dakota said.

Meanwhile Elliot had come into the main hallway with a bullhorn followed by Ms. Murawski. "Attention, all of you," Elliot began. "You're all violating important safety standards! You're blocking the entrance to this building and causing major disturbance." He looked frustrated seeing as how none of the crowd was paying attention and only kept yelling louder. Melissa and Zack, who were sitting right in the middle of the crowd in particular, gave him filthy looks and started to lead the chat even louder than before.

"HELL NO, HE CAN GO! HELL NO, HE CAN GO!"

Meanwhile Ms. Murawski was bouncing up and down, obviously finding this not only amusing but catchy. Elliot yelled into the bullhorn again. "If this is not cleared up in ten minutes the Principal will not be held accountable for.." he stopped when he looked to his left. "Do you mind, Ms. Murawski?!" he said angrily before taking off.

Meanwhile Cavendish and Dakota were still having their "Talk" with Principal Milder. "Don't you think he has feelings?!" Dakota said. "You don't think he wanted to go to this dance?"

"I'm aware, but this dance isn't your typical dance at the gym here. This is a big fancy ball-like dance, almost like a high school prom. It's gonna be held at a fancy banquet hall with professional catering services and due to the school board and their yacht purchase we had to cut corners just to be able to have the last two eighth grade dances there..."

"Again, is that the kid's fault your higher-ups are spendthrifts?!" Dakota asked. "They're the ones who are irresponsible so the poor kid has to suffer?!"

"Who is this Superintendent?" Cavendish asked. "What's his name so that we may speak to him?"

"I'm afraid I can't give out that information, it's classified."

"Never mind, we have ways of finding out," Cavendish said. "Thank you for your time," he and Dakota turned to go. As soon as they opened the door the chant was heard practically pouring into the room, louder than ever:

HELL NO, HE CAN GO, HELL NO HE CAN GO!

"What on Earth's going on out there?!" Milder cried out, standing up.

Cavendish basically tipped his hat to the Principal as if to say, 'This is your problem now' as he and Dakota quickly left the room.

Meanwhile far away from the school and unaware of the ruckus (due to Melissa and Zack not wanting either of them to find out about it), Amanda and Milo were taking a walk in the park. Even though Milo still felt pretty bad he was doing his best to cheer Amanda up. Tenderly he held her hand and carefully looked around him first to make sure Murphy's Law didn't act up.

"It won't be so bad," Milo said, trying to cheer Amanda up. "Really, don't worry about me, I'll be OK." They sat down on a nearby bench, after Milo quickly inspected it to make sure it wouldn't fall down.

"Oh, Milo...I don't want to go without you!" Amanda said defiantly. "If you can't go to this, I won't go either."

"But, Amanda, you have to go!" Milo said. "You're the one in charge of this! You're the Head of the Dance Committee..."

"And the Refreshment Committee and the Committee to Head All the Other Committees," Amanda continued. "And I wish I wasn't now."

"Amanda, don't say that!" Milo said. "NO one can put together events like you can! You're so talented and smart and gifted when it comes to planning and organizing. You're incredible!"

"Oh, Milo, you're so sweet to say so."

"I mean it, Amanda. You know I don't lie, especially not to you. I love how organized you are and how well you can put things together. Every event you plan amazes me."

"Really Milo?"

"Really. Besides, you've already put together most of this, I don't think you'd be allowed to back out now. As the Head Organizer of this, I think you're obligated to be there."

"Oh Milo, it just won't be the same without you."

"Well...listen...I've got an accordian lesson in the afternoon anyway. I'll just practice my new piece that night. All the better for Just Getting Started's next concert, right?"

"Right," Amanda said, managing to smile a bit.

"Have you found a new band yet to take our place?"

"Not yet."

"Well, you'll find one soon, I know it."

"I really wish it was your band, Milo. I'm really going to miss you," she looked down at her lap. "I really wanted to go with you."

"And I really wanted to take you," Milo admitted. "But, it's OK. I mean, just because we can't go to the school dance together doesn't mean we can't do other things together. " He put his arm around her shoulders. "How about we have pizza and go to a movie this Saturday? Just you and me. I'll let you pick out the movie."

Amanda managed to smile. "All right."

"I hope it won't take up too much of your enjoyment hours."

"Oh Milo, the time I spend with you is part of my enjoyment hours!"

Milo carefully took off his backpack and pulled something out of the front pocket. "I have something to cheer you up," He said and showed her what was in his hand. Amanda gasped at what was there- a beautiful sparkling crystal box shaped like a star. It looked like it was made out of tiny diamonds. "You remember when I told you about our adventure with the Octilians?" Amanda nodded. "Well, before we left the Commander gave each of us this box as a thank you present for saving her daughter," he lifted the lid and took out a beautiful necklace from inside it. It had a lovely crystal star dangling from a small silver chain. The star shimmered and sparkled and looked like it had tiny crystals inside it.

"Milo, it;s beautiful!" Amanda exclaimed.

"It's actually made of crystals from their home planet and actual stones taken from the moon," Milo exclaimed. All of us were given boxes with this necklace inside of it as thank you presents from the Octilians. I want you to have it, Amanda," He slowly put the necklace around Amanda's neck.

"Milo..." she whispered.

"Fits you perfectly," Milo says.

"Milo, it;s so beautiful!" Amanda carefully fingered the lovely star that now dangled from her neck. "I'll take good care of it," she promised, giving him a tender hug. She softly kissed him on the cheek, trying to control her now pounding heart. Milo slowly lifted her hand and kissed it gentily, watching how the crystals sparkled in the bright sunlight. "Oh, Milo, I l..." she quickly stopped herself. She dare not say THAT! It was far too soon, and they were only 13 and 14! She couldn't feel this way about someone at so young an age...could she? "I love this necklace!" she corrected herself.

"I love how it looks on you," Milo said. "Wear this at the dance, OK? Then you'll know I'm thinking of you."

Amanda rested her head on his shoulder, afraid she might cry.

Meanwhile Cavendish and Dakota were making their way down the backyard and they happened to overhear Elliot at his corner.

"All this fuss over someone who's such a menace it's a blessing he's not going to this!"

Cavendish and Dakota stopped in their tracks and whirled around angrily. "Pardon me," Cavendish said, "What was that you just said?"

Elliot turned around. "What's it metter to you what I said?"

"Milo happens to be our friend," Dakota said. "And we do NOT appreciate anything you just said right now!"

"Oh he;s your friend is he? And you're still alive?"

"Yes, we are." Cavendish said. "Are you the security guard here?" he asked, noticing Elliot's sign.

"What;s it to you?"

"I happen to have great respect for crossing guards, and great malice for people posing as them. You have no right to judge Milo anymore than a doctor has to judge a court hearing!"

"Hey, what I said just now isn;t any of your business!"

"Milo's our pal, and that makes it our business, pal!" Dakota said. "He's feeling rotten enough as it is and he don't need you to make him feel worse!"

Elliot stodd up. "Look, that kid is a menace and he wrecks everything he just passes by! You expect me to have percy for him, to just pat his shoulder and say 'It;s all right, go ahead and wreck everything you touch?"

"It's not the kid's fault and you should know that!"

"Get off my block right now!"

"Now you either stop judging Milo right now, or I go right back into that building and tell the Principal what a malicious contemtable fraud you are!"

"Mind your own damn business!"

Cavendish glared at him. "There's only one way to deal with people like you. You're heartless. You have no moral..."

"You gonna leave?"

"Yes," Cavendush said slowly...

TAP!

before he grabbed his cane and rapped Elliot hard on his head, causing him to fall backward on his chair.

Dakota followed him out. "That goes double for me!" he snapped before turning to Cavendish. "GOD, that was beautiful!" he said.

Later that afternoon Amanda was sitting on her bed, staring at a framed picture she normally kept on her nightstand. It was a very recent picture and it was of her, Lydia, Milo, Zack, and Melissa that Halloween. Milo had invited her to come trick-or-treating with him and his friends and to see his makeshift Haunted House he had made out of an old fire truck. She had taken Lydia with her and they all had such fun! She was wearing a Cuban Dancing Girl costume her mother had made for her while Lydia was dressed as Snow White. Melissa was a cowgirl, Zack was a sailor and Milo was a pirate. Before they had all left her mother had taken a biog picture of all of them. Which Amanda had had framed and was sitting on her nightstand. Now she was holding it in her arms, gazing at her and Milo in the picture. They were standing side-by-side and she had dared to hold his hand just before the picture snapped. She smiled, remembering how impressed she was seeing his homemade Haunted House and how thrilling he had made it. She lowered the picture onto her lap and ran her hand over the cool glass. It was so strange. Murphy's Law used to scare her so much that, even though she had nothing against Milo she went out of her way to avoid him. Now, she couldn't stop thinking about him! Where she before had told him to stay away from everything. Now she longed to have him right next to her. She longed to go back in time and relive Halloween all over again!

She wanted to go to the dance with him so badly. Now if she heard him say 'Let me help', she would be all ears. Her hand went to her neck and she fingered the lovely crystal star that dangled from her neck. "Milo..." she whispered, wishing he could be there to hear it. Even though she didn't want to go to this dance now, she would have to, like Milo pointed out. But she would be sure to wear the necklace...so she would know that Milo was with her in a way...

But it wouldn't be the same.


	5. Chapter 5

Note: I don;t own anything from Milo Murphy's Law. If I did we would already have a season 3.

The song that Bradley, Joni, and Chad sing is a parody of 'Come Together' by the Beatles.

About a week later Amanda and Lydia were sitting side by side at a long table, putting together some of the decorations to be taken over to the Grand Ballroom for the 8th Grade Dance. There were roses of many colors on the table in front Lydia- red, white, yellow, blue, purple, and pink. Lydia was taking one rose of every color and giving them to Amanda who then tied them together with a thin red ribbon and put them into thin vases next to her. The Principal and several of her helpers would then take them over to the Ballroom.

As Lydia gathered the roses and handed them to Amanda, the beautiful crystal star dangling from her neck and making sparkling patters on the wall whenever the sun hit it through the windows, she could see Amanda's head was down, and her voice was emotionless as she worked. Lydia watched her best friend with concern, knowing this wasn't anything like her. Usually Amanda loved being in charge and putting everything together in a nice neat order, with perfect precision. Now her eyes were down, her voice was dead, and she behaved like she couldn't care less.

"Thank you," she said with complete abandon as Lydia handed her the roses.

"You're welcome."

"Thank you," Amanda said, taking another bunch.

"My pleasure," Lydia answered.

"Thank you."

"Any time," Lydia said, beginning to be annoyed.

"Thank you."

"This has to stop," Lydian declaired throwing down the roses she was holding.

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked, looking up

"You're upset," Lydia pointed out.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, standing up and taking one of the vases. "Excuse me, I have to get these vases to the tables."

"See? This is what I'm talking about, I can't stand this formality!" She stood up and walked over to Amanda. "Amanda, this is me. Your best friend. I can tell when you're upset. It's this whole thing that's getting to you, isn't it?' Amanda stiffened up. "Amanda, come on, don't hide it. I'm upset by this too. I don't think it was right to ban Milo.." she caught what she said, but not before Amanda slammed the vase on the table. "I'm on your side in this, Amanda! I know how much you wanted to go with Milo, and I know he wanted to go with you too. But don't hold it in just because you're in charge of this. It's just the two of us, we're alone in here. Don't hold back, let it all out." Amanda stiffened. "Amanda, it's OK, just let it out! It's only the two of us here, I won't tell, go ahead, get angry."

Amanda grabbed the nearest chair and shook it. "ARRRRGH!" She said, finally tipping it over. She then grabbed a bunch of red ribbon and threw it across the room.

Lydia put her arm around her. "There. Don;t you feel better now?"

"No," Amanda said truthfully.

Just then Mort came into the room. "Amanda?" he asked. "Bradley wants you to come into the music room."

"Why?" she said as she and Lydia followed him.

"Bradley has something to show you."

Amanda sighed. "Has he come up with another list of complaints again?"

"No, but this'll give you just as many nightmares." He swung open the door and found Bradley in front of a microphone along with Chad on lead guitar, and Joni on bass. Amanda stared incrediously.

As Amanda and Lydia gaped, Bradley signaled to the guitar players and a weird version of 'Come Together', filled the room as Bradley sang into the mike:

"Here comes Amanda, and she got,

Loads of committes and she got,

Put in charge of this,

And she needs our help right now,

Cause the band that she manages bowed out uncomfortably,

But now we're here to hire oursleves for a fee."

Amanda stared at this with a 'You gotta be kidding' look on her face, while Lydia nudged her and stifled giggles.

"We play our instruments and we

Know we're better than everyone,

And we'll gladly show you once the,

School dance happens, we'll say,

We are the ones, and soon you'll see,

That we are the Best band in all of Jefferson County!

Come together, right now,

The show is free!"

Amanda glanced over at Lydia who raised her eyebrows. Mort stood in the doorway with his arms folded and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'I dunno'

"They had bad production, cause they

Hired that walking menace,

And that place collapses around them

Every time they have a setting,

But now that won;t happen cause as far as we can see,

No jinx at the dance means 100% safety!"

Amanda stared at this with anger building up inside her and her fists clentched. Lydia put an arm around her, "It's OK," she told her. "It;s OK, don;t worry about it..."

"Come together, right now.

The show is free!

We got guitars, and we

Got our music and we

Know we can make the best

Music for this Big Dance!

And we can do more for this than those others we see,

At least we won;t turn this place into a junk heap!

Come together, right now,

The show is free!"

When the show finally ended Amanda and Lydia both stared at them incrediously while Bradley made an exaggerated bow. Mort paused for a few seconds and then began to sarcasically clap.

Lydia folded her arms. "You're serious with this?" she said.

"Behold, the new and improved school band!" Bradley announced. "Ready willing and able to play for the Big 8th Grade dance!"

"You got to be kidding.." Lydia said. "THIS is new and improved?! You form a band and sing a parody song?!"

"Oh man, they didn't like us, and we practiced for 6 minutes," Joni said.

"Well, I'm just glad we got paid in advance!"

"SHUT UP!" Bradley said to them before turning back to Amanda. "Really, Amanda, you GOT to give us credit. What does that OTHER band have that we don't?!"

"Dude, I'm standing right here," Mort called out.

Amanda pretended to think. "Talent?" Lydia snickered.

"Look, Amanda, with us as a band I garentee that this will be perfect! No chaos, no destruction, no Murphy's Law to mess it up, and no Milo! Won't that be nice?"

That did it.

With an angry snarl Amanda turned and stormed right out of the room. Mort held the door open for her, but she took it from him and slammed the door so hard the walls jiggled. Mort facepalmed. "This day refuses to not be idiotic," he mumbled.

Lydia glared at him. Oh that is nice, Bradley. That is really nice. Now look what you did!"

"Look what I did?! I didn't do that! I was just merely telling the truth, it's not my fault if she can't handle it all of a sudden. What's with her anyway?"

"If you don't know, Bradley, you're more dense than I thought!"

"Excuse me, but SHE was always so obsessed with perfection and order and organization! Here I am providing the means to make that possible and suddenly she no longer wants that?! Pardon me for living but I don't get it!"

"No argument here," Lydia said. She turned and made her way out of the room and back to Amanda. By this time Amanda was just sitting down on the table, her arms folded in front opf her and her head resting on the folded hands. There wasn't anything Lydia could do but sit down next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Ya know," she said, trying to lighten the mood, "Maybe we should let Bradley perform with his band after all, I have a feeling everyone could use a real good laugh!" Amanda looked up then. "And just think, if they stink we'll have plenty of food to throw at them!" Amanda shrugged. "Hey, I'm only kidding. Ya know I'm not serious."

"I know," she said, sighing.

"Ya wanna quit this and go home? I think we have plenty of decoration ready for right now, I think we can stop and come back to this later."

"No, that's Ok, let;s keep going."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don;t own Milo Murphy's Law or any of the characters in it. I'm just waiting for season 3 to finally be announced.

Amanda was sitting at her desk in her room after school the next day, doing what she normally did around this time, writing up her schedule for the next day after finishing her homework and feeding her pet mice. She had to admit, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate on it, especially with the Big Dance right around the corner and the fact that Milo was unable to take her now. Almost absentmindedly, her hand went to the sparkling star around her neck and she slid it up and down the chain. She was thinking more and more about Milo lately, especially after their pizza and movie night that Saturday.

Milo and Amanda made their way to the pizza parlor, Milo holding her hand tenderly, making Amanda feel warm all over. Amanda glanced backward and saw her sister following them arm in arm with her boyfriend, Christopher, laughing and talking and not paying a bit of attention to them. Amanda smiled, good! She never understood why her mother insisted that Teresa go with her sister to 'chaperone' her. Yes, she was 13 but it;s not like this was a date...or was it? Either way she was sure she didn't need a chaperone! Luckily Teresa didn't even seem to be paying a bit of attention to that at all.

"You'll really like Veronica," Milo told Amanda. "She was the best baby-sitter I ever had!"

"She gave you your backpack too, right?" Amanda asked.

"Yep. She helped teach me a lot about being prepared," he opened the door for her and followed her in, holding the door open for Teresa and Christopher. He smiled when he saw the young woman in medevil garb by the counter. "Hey, Veronica!"

The woman looked up "Good afternoon, Sir...why grant mercy, it's Milo!" Beaming she came out from the counter and gave him a huge hug. "Milo! It's so great to see you!" She stood back and ruffled his hair. "You're looking good. I think you got taller since the last time I saw you!" Her eyes fell on Amanda. "And who is this pretty lady you have here?" She winked at Milo. "Milo, ya didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." Milo blushed slightly, causing Veronica to giggle. "Aw. Ya know I'm only teasing!"

Milo smiled and took Amanda's hand. "This is Amanda Lopez. Amanda, this is my old baby-sitter Veronica."

Veronica smiled and pleasantly shook Amanda's hand. "Very nice to meet you, Amanda. Any friend of Milo's is a friend of mine! Let me personally show you two to the best table we have in the house!" Taking two menus, she escorted them to the nicest table by a window. Amanda saw Teresa and Christopher at the table nearest her, but again they were barely paying attention to them, so Amanda just pretended they weren't there.

"Don't worry, Milo, these windows are shatterproof glass," Veronica told him. "Can I get you two anything to drink?"

"Sure, two Pepsis please."

"Coming right up," she winked at Amanda and whispered to her, "I'm speaking from experience, you lucked out getting him! You can't find a better guy then Milo, you make sure to hold on to him now!" Amanda smiled at her as she left.

"She's very nice."

"Yeah, she's the best!" Milo leaned forward. "And she always gives me a ten percent discount on the pizza."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he smiled as they looked over the menu. "So, the usual? Large pizza with double cheese, sausage, and pepperoni?"

"Sure," when Veronica came back with their drinks they gave her their order. When she left again Amanda smiled at Milo, butterflies suddenly starting in her stomach. This was pretty much the first time she was sitting at a table alone with Milo. True she and Milo had gone out before but they usually doubled with Melissa and Zack. As much as she enjoyed the two of them a part of her had longed to be alone with Milo, and now here was her chance. So why were her insides all fluttery? She turned to Milo and smiled tenderly. Milo grinned back at her and reached over to finger the star that dangled from her neck.

"This necklace really looks beautiful on you, Amanda," he told her honestly.

"I love it, Milo," Amanda said honestly. Milo smiled, took her hand, and kissed it gentily.

"Ya know, Amanda," he said quietly. "I know I never told you this...but I always did have a crush on you."

"Really, Milo?" she said, surprised.

"Yeah..I've felt this way about you since 4th grade," Milo confessed with a blush. "I thought you were the prettiest girl in our class...I still do," he admitted.

"Oh, Milo," Amanda said, flattered. "Why didn't you ever say anything before?"

"Well...it's...I wanted to, but...I kinda knew you didn't feel the same way about me. And I didn't want to bother you with it," he suddenly noticed a nearby light bulb was wiggling in it's socket. Milo knew that scene all too well, it was about to fall off! "Uh hold that thought," he said, quickly running over to the bulb and catching it before it was able to fall. He then took a screwdriver out of his backpack and carefully screwed back the bulb. He turned it on and off to test it, and then sat back down. Amanda watched this whole thing with raised eyebrows.

"Milo, you amaze me," she said honestly.

Milo smiled back. "Thanks. My Dad has a lot to do with that, he helped teach me everything I know about how to deal with Murphy's Law."

"Is that how you knew how to fix the fuse box during the dance?"

"Yep. But anyway, that's why I never really told you my feelings before. I didn't want to be a pain, and I wanted to respect you and your wishes. Though I wanted to make sure things went right for you at the same time."

Amanda's heart melted at this confession. That was so like Milo, always thinking of others, wanting to help and see others happy. "I was so foolish before," she confessed, reaching for his hand and looking into his eyes. They were both startled when Veronica put their pizza on the table and handed them their plates. They both smiled at one another and reached for the pizza.

That was one of the best Saturdays she had ever spent with someone. She so enjoyed spending time with Milo and chided herself for the way she had acted before. Yes Murphy's Law acted up, there were several instances that day on the way to the movie, but Milo was always such a quick thinker and anything that happened he managed to fix! The more she spent with him she more she truly enjoyed him and the longer she wanted to stay with him. Now if there was a project in science class that would require a pair up, she would do anything to be on Milo's team! If Cake Splosion ever came back and wanted her again SHE would recommend HIM to be her partner!

She almost jumped out of her seat when Teresa came into the room. "Hi, little sister," she called.

"Hi, Teresa."

"Can I borrow one of your pens for homework, mine just ran out of ink."

"Yeah. Help yourself," she gestured to the mug on her desk which neatly held a large group of pens.

As Teresa reached for a pen, her eyes happened to fall on Amanda's schedule. Before Amanda could react her sister snatched the schedule away from her and looked at it with her eyebrows raised. "This your plan for tomorrow?" she asked.

Amanda grabbed a pen from the mug and held it out to her. "I believe you were looking for this?"

Teresa took the pen but didn't put down the schedule. "You're planning on spending time with your friend Milo tomorrow, huh?"

"That is my intention."

"So you're gonna stay at his home? Say up till about 9?!"

"No, not that late! Why do you say that?"

Teresa then showed her the paper. "Cause you wrote his name all over this schedule!"

Amanda snatched the paper from her sister and looked at it with surprise. She was right! All over the bottom of it, and even along the edges and around the holes in the margins, she had written 'Milo', and she didn't even know she was doing that! She slowly put down the paper as her cheeks turned a bright crimson.

"Hermana, will you stop fooling yourself?!" Teresa said. "Just admit it, you are crazy about him!"

"But...we're still in 8th grade.."

"So? That doesn't mean you can't love someone!"

"I don't know the first thing about being in love!"

"There's no better time to learn! Come ON, Mandy, the signs are ALL there, right in front of your face. You can't stop thinking about him, you write his name down over and over, you've been majorly depressed ever since he got banned from the dance, you work more and more time with him in that schedule! Besides I saw the way you two were looking at each other at the pizza parlor!"

"You were watching us?"

"I promised Mama I would. I was, out of the corner of my eye and it was obvious to anyone how you both felt. Those looks of adoration you were giving to him were so easy to see!"

"Was I really doing that?"

"Aw he did it to you too! And the way you were siting so close to him in the movie theater, just admit it, it's not like he doesn't feel the same way about you!" She hugged Amanda. "You're growing up, Little Sister, you've gotten your very first boyfriend!" She giggled and kissed the top of her head. "You'll live!" She went out of the room as Amanda stared after her.

Meanwhile Milo was at a nearby clothing store with Zack helping him choose a new suit for the dance. Milo was sitting on one of the small chairs outside the dressing rooms. Actually he had moved the chair a fine distance away from the dressing rooms to avoid any Murphy's Law incident. He had almost had one when he noticed a rack of ties was about to fall, but he managed to catch it and steady it in time to avoid a catastrophie.

Now Zack emerged from the nearest dressing room in a nice dark colored shirt with a bright red tie and matching dark jacket. "Well, how does this look?"

Milo whistled. "Hot stuff!" he teased. "You and Melissa are gonna be THE best dressed ones there!"

"Well, I'm actually looking at a few more suits besides this one. Let me know what ya think of this," Zack disappeared into the dressing room again, and when he came out he was wearing a very different suit. This one had a light blue shirt and black tie with a matching jacket. "How's this one?"

"Divine!" Milo stood up and put his hands on his hips. "Not too many 14 years olds can pull off a look like this, but you my friend, are divine! Melisa better not let YOU out of her sight! So, is it just those two?"

"Well, I'm looking at one more," Zack went back into the room. When he came out he was wearing a white shirt with a dark blue tie and a navy blue suit.

"That's not bad, not bad at all!" Milo grinned.

"So, which one do you think looks best?"

"Hmm," Milo thought. "I think I like the first one. I like how the red tie stands out." Zack went into the room again and came back out in the first suit. "Yeah, that's the best one I think."

Zack studied his reflection in the mirror. "Yeah, I think I like this one myself."

"It's definitely you," Milo agreed. He took out his phone and set it to 'camera'. "Take a walk down the runway, handsome!" Zack walked down the carpet, stopping and turning like a fashion model while Milo snapped pictures. "Terrific, terrific! Fashion model!" He smiled. He saw a suit he liked himself and carefully took it off the rack. Immidiately the rack started to sway back and forth but Milo expertly reached over and caught it before it could fall and rightened it. "Hey, I'm gonna go try this suit on, I wanna see how it looks myself." When Milo emerged he and Zack stood side-by-side on the mirror.

"What do you think?"

"Nice!" He put his hand on Milo's shoulder. "Look at us, we are two handsome guys," Zack said, smiling.

"Yeah. Let's get em!" Milo said as they posed in front of the mirror. They did gun fingers, and stood side by side, and made model-like poses. Turning from the mirror, Milo put his arm around Zack and took a selfie of them, then Zack took one of the two. Finally they both laughed out loud and fist-bumped.

"Thanks for helping me choose," Zack said.

"Hey, what are best friends for?" Milo said. "You and Melissa are gonna knock em dead when you enter the room!"

"Thanks," Zack said. But his smile soon faded.

"What's wrong?" Milo asked.

"It's not gonna be the same without you there."

"Well, don't worry about me, you both go and have fun."

Zack sighed. "It's just that...ever since I moved here we've done almost everything together, ya know? It's always been you, Melissa, and me. We were the Three Musketeers of Jefferson County, ya know?"

"And now we can add Amanda," Milo reminded him.

"And now we can add Amanda," he agreed. "The point is...we've done almost everything together, Milo. It...it isn't gonna feel the same without you."

"Yeah. I'm gonna miss you guys too," Milo admitted. "But, hey, I got an accordian lesson that afternoon anyway. I'll just practice that night. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You both go, I insist. Come on, let's pay for these and go find your corsage."

"You gonna take that?"

Milo looked at the suit he was wearing. "Yeah. It looks pretty good. Think I will."

"Go for it, it looks sharp on ya," Zack said.

"And that looks perfect on you!" Milo said. "You and Melissa are gonna have a great time at the Dance." But as they headed for the dressing rooms to change back into their regular clothes, Zack didn't feel as sure.

Later that day Amanda walked down the stairs to the kitchen and sat quietly down at the table, deep in thought. Her mother turned from the stove. "Hello, Sweetheart, I've hardly seen you this afternoon. You hungry?"

"Not right now," she looked down at her hands. Finally she raised her eyes. "Mama?"

Her mother looked up from a recipe card she was reading. "Yes?"

"May I talk to you for a moment?" Her mother could tell it was serious. She walked over and sat down next to her, putting her hand on hers.

"What is it, Mi Amour?"

"Mama...I'm so confused."

"About what?"

She sighed. "About Milo. About how I feel..."

"What is confusing you?"

"Everything," she admitted. "Mama...I just don't know. I...I like Milo...I like him so much. He's such a wonderful friend, and I do enjoy spending time with him. We've been spending so much time together that I've almost forgotten about Murphy's Law. I mean, no, I haven't forgotten about it completely, but I'm not scared of it anymore. It's just part of who Milo is, and I realized it no longer bothers me. I really love being with him, he's the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met. And...I care about him so much. But..."

"But what, Sweetheart?"

"But...Mama...Teresa said a few minutes ago that..I was in love with him!"

"Oh?" Her mother said with an amuzed look in her eyes. "What made her say that?"

"The fact that she caught me daydreaming about him...and the fact that I wrote his name all over my schedule without even knowing about it," Her mother raised her eyebrows as Amanda's face turned bright red. "Mama...I can't be in love!"

"Why not, Mi Amour?"

"Mama, I'm only 13! Milo just turned 14! That's too young to be in a relationship!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, we're only in 8th grade."

"So?"

"So, don;t you think that's too young?" 

"I don't think so, mi pequena corazon*. You can fall in love at any age."

"You can be in a relationship at 13?"

"I think so."

Amanda thought about that for a few moments. "Mama? I've never even been in love before. How do you know...how you feel...if it is love?"

Her mother smiled. "Ah, Querida**, you're starting to grow up," she put her arm around Amanda. "Love can be pretty complicated at times. But at other times, it can be the best thing to have ever happened to you. Let me ask you something, Miel***, do you find yourself thinking of him a lot?"

"Only...all the time, Mama."

Her mother smiled. "And how does that make you feel?" 

"Happier than I've ever felt, Mama. But sometimes I do feel ashamed."

"Of what?"

"Of the way I treated him before. I was so afraid of Murphy;s Law I went out of my way to avoid him. I refused to be his partner during science class, I told him to stay away from everything last year during our School Dance before I found out his talent with fixing things. Oh Mama, I wish I could go back and undo all of that."

"But he hasn;t held it against you, has he?"

"No, Mama. That's another thing about him. He's so decent and kind and forgiving of others. That's another thing that I admire so much about him. But, Mama...is this admiration...or is this actual love? I just don't know."

"Well, Quirida, only you can truly answer that question. But I can give you some advice. Look deep down inside of you. Look deep in your heart and explore your feelings completely. Think of how he makes you feel, think of how much you do care about him. Do you enjoy being with him?"

"So much, Mama."

"Do you care about him, I mean deep down really truly care?"

Amanda paused for a few moments. "I do."

"Do you truly accept everything he is despite his faults."

"Yes, Mama, I do."

"Do you feel happy just seeing him happy?"

"Yes, Mama, I love to see him smile. That's one of the reasons I was so upset when he couldn't go to the dance. Because I know he was hurting inside. I hate seeing him so hurt, Mama. He's so kind and thoughtful and generous, he didn't deserve that! Things that go wrong with Murphy's Law, he's the first one to fix them and he can even make things better than ever. I found that out."

"Do you care what other people may think if they see you two together?"

"No, Mama, I don't care. Anyone who would say anything doesn't know him like I do. I'm proud to be seen with him and I don't care if someone stares.'

Her mother smiled. "Concentrate on those feelings, Miel. Think long and hard about them, and then you will have your answer. And remember, it doesn't have anything to do with age, or what others may think. It's about you and your own feelings. "

Amanda considered her mother's words, slowly smiling to herself. "But, Mama? If I am in love...when would be the right time to tell him how I feel?"

Her mother smiled and affectionately touched her nose. "When the perfect time comes, you will know."

Amanda smiled at this and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Thank you, Mama," she said before she left the room. Her mother watched her go. "Mi pequena corazon is growing up," she sighed.

*mi pequena corazon- My Little Heart

**Quirida- Dear

***Miel- Honey


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don;t own any of the characters in Milo Murphy's Law. I'm just waiting for season 3

The song Milo and Sara sing is 'Right Hand Man' from the Broadway Show Hamilton

A few weeks later the Big Night had arrived. Melissa was in her room finishing putting on her new bright purple dress and applying her makeup. She looked at the mirror and sighed. Here it was, the Big 8th Grade Dance, the event all 8th Graders at Jefferson County Middle School was waiting for. So why did she feel like going back to bed? She checked the clock on her nightstand. Zack was gonna be picking her up in about a half hour, so she had better hurry up. She reached for her own star crystal necklace that was laying in the star shaped box on her nightstand. She knew Milo had given his necklace to Amanda so she figured she would wear hers tonight as a show of solidarity and so they could BOTH feel that Milo was there with them.

Truth be known, she was surprised that she and Zack were allowed to attend this event at all after the protest they had lead after Milo was banned. To her surprise the local news had shown up at the school and was about to cover it when Principal Milder showed up and shooed them all away, forcing the protest to break up and for them all to go home. In a way she was glad that they had NOT made it to the news. She knew Milo would have more than likely been embarressed by all the attention the protest would have gotten, which was one of the reasons she and Zack did not want Milo or Amanda to know.

The door opened and her father came into the room, wearing his fireman's uniform. He smiled when he saw her. "Wow...look at you," he grinned. "You look perfect," he came over to hug her. "I can't believe my little girl's about to graduate 8th grade," he held her at arms length so he could look at her top to bottom. "Your mother would be so proud of you, God rest her soul."

"Thanks, Dad," she looked down. "You have the late shift tonight?"

"Yeah, but I should be home by the time the dance is over. Looking forward to hearing about it," he looked at her, concerned. "What's wrong, Honey?"

Melissa walked over to her bed and sat down upon it. "I don't think either me or Zack are gonna enjoy this dance. I mean, sure, this is one of the Biggest Events of the whole 8th Grade. But...it doesn't feel like that to us. Not anymore."

"Because Milo can't come to it?"

"Well, yeah, Dad. It's always been Milo, Zack, and me ever since 7th Grade. We were known as The Three Muskateers of Jefferson Country...four ever since Amanda started to hang with us. It's gonna be so weird doing this without him,"

Her father sighed. "Look, I do sympathize with you, Princess. But you have to remember the Principal didn't do it on purpose. She just wanted to avoid accidents. After all Milo's middle name is literally Danger."

"It's Dan-jay, Dad. It's French."

Her father put up his hands, "Excusez-moi, Mademoiselle!" He came over and sat next to her on the bed. "This is really bothering you, isn't it, Sweetheart?"

"Yeah, Dad," Melissa finally exploded, getting up and pacing around the room. "It's not fair! You know that Milo has no control over Murphy's Law, and it's not like he lets things happen, either. He's always prepared for anything and he always seems to have everything he needs to fix whatever happens! You KNOW that, he saved us with that old firetruck went out of control. I thought you said you were gonna look at him differently after that!"

"I do," he assured her. "I'm on your side in this! I agree with you that it wasn't fair to ban him. I'm just saying that the Principal didn't do it to deliberately hurt him."

"Well, she did!"

"And I'm sure she feels bad about it too."

Melissa sat on her desk chair. "This dance is supposed to be one of the biggest events of the School Year. Everyone is gonna be there. But it doesn't feel like it to me. Dad...I don't wanna go to this."

"Who says you have to then?"

"Practically the whole 8th Grade. Zack is gonna be showing up any minute to take me, and they're gonna notice if we're not there."

"Princess, why do you care what other people think? Ya never have before," he walked over and cupped his daughter's chin in his hand. "You do what YOU think is right. I'm sure Zack will understand no matter what decision you make."

Amanda sighed as she put on her light pink dress, making sure it was perfectly straight and the bow in the back was nice and neat. Even though this was the one of the biggest events in the 8th grade, she was about as looking forward to this as she was to a trip to the dentist. But she was the chief organizer for this dance as well as the head of the committees. She was obligated to be there. She glanced at her white dress, the dress that she had wanted to wear this night...the dress that she and her sister had fixed up. The dress that she would rather have been wearing...with Milo next to her.

She was startled by the ringing of the doorbell. She quickly made her way downstairs as her mother opened the door and a delivery man said, "Is this where Amanda Lopez lives?"

Amanda came over. "I'm Amanda Lopez."

The man gave her a brown rectangular box. "Then this is for you. Special delivery."

"Thank you," she said politely as her mother signed for the package. She sat on the front step and opened it, gasping as she carefully lifted out...a clear case which contained a beautiful pink corsage lined with baby's breath and tied with a long pink ribbon. There was a note taped to the top. She unfolded it and read what it said.

'I hoped that I could give this to you when I picked you up for the dance. I think it would have looked lovely on you. But seeing as how I can't be there, I hope you'll wear it and have a good time. I'll see you on Saturday.

Milo'

Oh Milo...she fingered the top of the corsage box. He was so thoughtful and so selfless, even sending her such a lovely corsage even though he couldn't be there himself. Her heart sank until it reached her toes and her hands suddenly felt very heavy. Her mother sat next to her and put her arm around her.

"What is the matter, Novia?" her mother said quietly. She looked down at the clear container in her lap. "Oh, such pretty flowers. Did your friend send you those?" she nodded. "How thoughtful of him. Those are so pretty, and I know they match your dress. You like that, I do know. I suppose that's his way of being there with you...there there my miel, my caramel, my pequeno amour*, don't cry!" But Amanda couldn't help it, she could feel the tears starting in her eyes. She had to blink hard to get them under control and she forced herself to take big deep breaths. She felt her mother's soft pats on her back and her hankercheif tenderly wipe her cheeks.

"This is really upsetting you, isn;t it, mi amour?" Amanda nodded quietly. "You know, you don't HAVE to go, Sweetheart."

"I do, Mama," Amanda said. "I'm the Head of the Committee, I have an obligation to be there. Oh Mama...I just want Milo to be there too! I wish with all my heart he was here with me. It won't be the same without him!"

"I know he feels exactly the same way you do, Miel. And he misses you just as much as you miss him," she stood up. "Are you SURE you want to go tonight?"

Amanda looked up, "I'm sure."

Meanwhile, Zack had arrived to pick up Melissa. She answered the door in the purple dress. "Hey," she said half-heartedly.

"Hey," Zack answered. He gave her her corsage. "Here."

"Thanks," she took it and stepped aside, motioning him to come in. She went over to the couch and sat on the arm. "Flowers are nice. No, I mean that," she said as she opened the box and put the corsage on her wrist. "That a new suit?"

"Yeah, Milo helped me pick it out."

"Looks good."

"Ya look nice too," he sat down on the armchair. "So, ya ready to go?"

"Yeah, I guess," she stood up but made no effort to walk out the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing full well what it was.

Melissa sighed. "Everything," she answered. She folded her arms across her chest. "This whole thing...it doesn't feel right. Feels like a part of us is missing."

"Cause it is," Zack said, standing up.

"I've never done anything without Milo. Ever since 1st grade, we've always been together. And ever since you moved here, we've been like The Three Musketeers. It's always been the three of us. Without Milo...it's like a piece of US is gone."

"Yeah." Zack agreed. "I don't even wanna go to this thing now!"

"Me neither," Melissa said.

"So...why ARE we going?!" Zack finally said. He and Melissa looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thing.

The Grand Ballroom was already full with most of the students and members of the faculty all dressed in their best. Amanda had to agree, it was just as beautiful as she envisioned it when she first held the meeting of the decorating Commitee. The flower arrangements she and Lydia had set up were in the center of each table resting on the lily white tablecloths. The tables and chairs were surrounding the huge dance floor and on the stage the band she had finally managed to get were setting up. The faculty were already settling themselves in the reserved tables and were facing the huge platform across from the stage that had a lily-white staircase leading up to it, covered by a red carpet. Bright red curtains were in front of the staircase and on either side, the members of the 8th Grade were waiting for their moment to be introduced. Principal Milder took her place at the podium to the left of the staircase.

"Faculty and honored guests, it's my pleasure to welcome all of you to the annual Jefferson County Middle School 8th Grade Dance. As we prepare to say goodbye to these incredible young people and wish them well as they go on to the next phase of life, we hope that they will take with them many good memories, not only of this school but of this night in particular. Which I think we can all agree they have earned. Our students have worked hard all year and have deserved this beautiful and festive evening.."

Backstage Mabel snickered and mumbled to Amanda, "The way she talks you'd think SHE was the one Graduating!" Amanda managed to smile at that. Her eyes went down to the lovely pink corsage on her wrist, feeling like it was a ten ton weight. Her hand subconciously moved to the crystal star danging from her neck, sliding it back and forth on the silver chain. She sighed, this night was gonna be one of the longest of her life. But she knew she had to stay. As she found herself saying for a while, it was time to 'Milo up'. To not quit no matter what. Though now she felt her heart breaking as she tried to say that.

"I'm proud to say that this year's class has been one of the most interesting classes we have had and yet at the same time so very special and unique. The students have proved to be shining examples of this community and as we prepare to bid them farewell in just a few months as they venture into High School.."

"Wish she would get ON with it," Bradley mumbled. "This suit is starting to get itchy."

"Now without further ado, let us now greet the graduations class of Jefferson County Middle School," she cleared her throat and nodded to her side. A spotlight came on and shone at the stop of the stairs as Joni came forward and stood at the top. "Joni Katherine Alexander," Milder began. Joni then stepped down to applause from the faculty. The next student then entered from the other side of the stage. "David Stephen Andrew." He came down to his applause.

Amanda knew that seeing as how the students were being introduced alphabetically she would be right in the middle. She let her mind wander again as her thoughts again drifted to Milo. She already knew they would be attending the same high school next year, as would Melissa and Zack, but that thought somehow failed to comfort her at all. She didn't want to wait for a high school dance, she wanted to be with Milo NOW. She remembered the talk she had had with her mother, about looking deep inside of her heart to discover her feelings, though it was a little hard when it was broken into two pieces. She lifted her head as the principal continued her introductions.

"Stephen Micheal Carter," she said as he went down the stairs to his applause. "Melissa Ann Chase," she said. But to her surprise there was no applause. She looked up from her notes as the faculty stared, confused. She looked at the top of the stairs to see an empty spotlight...shining at nothing.

There was no Melissa.

"A..herm," Milder continued. "Melissa Ann Chase?" she called out, somewhat louder. Amanda looked up, startled. Where was Melissa? "Is Melissa here? Melissa!" Milder called again. The other students looked around, worredly.

"Where is she? Is she here? Haven;t seen her..."

"Um...OK...Melissa's absent...uh...David Peter Cook," Milder said, trying to continue. Amanda looked puzzled. Melissa miss something? Without any warning or telling anyone? That was so unlike her! Where was she..

Though Amanda had a feeling she knew.

She let her thoughts wander again. She knew that Milo's name would be called a little while after her own. She wondered how the Principal would handle that? Would she announce him and just patiently explain that he was unable to make it? She hoped it would be like that, it was bad enough that Milo was banned from this, the entire faculty didn't have to wonder why.

"Go on," Lydia's voice came from behind her, startling her. "It's your turn to go now," Amanda almost jumped out of her dress. Lydia gave her a small push toward the stairs. Amanda carefully walked to the top as the spotlight came on her.

"Amanda Maria Katrina Carmen Pilar Isabella Lopez," Milder continued. Amanda walked down the stairs as the faculty politely applauded. She took her place in the line of students that were lined up to the right of the staircase. "Mabel Alice Renee Luther," Milder continued. "Lydia Elizabeth Martin."

As name after name was read off, Amanda politely applauded, at the same time wishing she was somewhere else...with someone else. As Milder read M name after M name Amanda inwardly cringed, knowing what was going to come soon.

"Andrew Peter Molon," Milder said as he came down the stairs. "Bradley Robert Nicholson."

Amanda's head snapped up. Wait...what?! She never even SAID Milo's name! Anger began to bubble inside of her to join the other feelings that were already there! Milo was a part of this class too! Yes he couldn't come to the dance, but did that mean he had to be excluded even from the list of names read? Her eyes met Lydia's, who was just as shocked as she was!

"Wait, did she forget someone?" another person mumbled.

"She forgot Milo," another voice said.

"How do you forget Milo?"

Andrew also was shocked. "Yeah. He was supposed to come after me!"

"You'd think she'd just SAY his name!"

Amanda was now silently thankful Melissa wasn't there now. She knew Melissa would NOT have been able to tolerate that!

"Peter Eric Robinson," Milder continued as he came down the stairs. "Mortimer Andrew Schaeffer."

Once again the name was met with silence. "Oh not again," Milder mumbled as she glanced up to the top of the stairs.

There was no Mort either.

"This is becoming a pattern," Bradley said.

"Yes..."Amanda softly agreed, beginning to see what was happening. A part of her hid her delight as knowing that Zack's name would be called soon and this would repeat.

Meanwhile Sara was passing by Milo's room. She could hear him practicing his accordian in there, like he said he was gonna do tonight. She knew he was putting everything he had into his improptu practice, but he couldn't fool Sara. She knew he was just trying to cover up his feels at not being able to attend the School Dance. Lucky thing she had something that she knew would cheer him right up. She carefully and quietly made her way into his room so as not to startle him and listened to the song he was playing. Recognizing it, she began to tap her toes and sing along,

"We are outgunned

Milo: (what?)

SARA: Outmanned

MILO: (what?)

SARA: Outnumbered  
Outplanned

MILO: What, what, what?

SARA: We gotta make an all out stand  
And, I'm gonna need a right-hand man"

As Sara continued to sing along Milo tapped his toes and put his all into the piece.  
"Check it  
Can I be real a second?  
For just a millisecond?  
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?  
Now I'm the model of a modern major general  
The venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all  
Lining up, to put me up on a pedestal  
Writin' letters to relatives  
Embellishin' my elegance and eloquence  
But the elephant is in the room  
The truth is in ya face when ya hear the British cannons go"

MILO and SARA: "Boom!"

SARA: "Any hope of success is fleeting  
How can I keep leading when the people I'm  
Leading keep retreating?  
We put a stop to the bleeding as the British take Brooklyn  
Knight takes rook, but look

We are outgunned"

MILO: "what?"

SARA: "Outmanned "

MILO: "what?"

SARA: "Outnumbered  
Outplanned"

MILO: "What? What? What?"

SARA: "We gotta make an all out stand  
And, I'm gonna need a right-hand man"

When the sing was finished they both became aware of enthusiastic clapping. They turned to see Brigette in the doorway.

"Whoo-Hoo! Bravo, Bravo, encore!" she smiled. "That sounded terrific, Milo!"

"Aw, Mom," he smiled.

"You're gonna knock them dead during your next band performance, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom."

Sara put her arm around Milo. "How are you doing, baby Bro?"

"Ok, Sara," Milo said, starting to take off his accordian and put it away in it;s case, but even as he was saying so Sara knew that wasn't entirely true.

"Are you sure, Bro?"

"Sara...I'm OK," Milo tried to assure her. Sara exchanged a look with her mother, both of them knowing that that wasn't entirely true. Sara got up and went over to her bother, kneeling down in front of him.

"Hey, little bro, I got something for ya," she said.

"Ya did? What?" Milo asked curiously.

"Oh...something I knew you've been waiting for for a while.." she took a DVD set of out of pocket and held it up. Milo's eyes grew wide.

"Sara...is that..."

"Dr. Zone, season 10! They finally released it on DVD!"

"Whoa, cool! Can we watch some of it now?"

"SOME of it? We can watch ALL of it, Little Bro! Dr Zone Binge watch slumber party?!"

"YEAH!" Milo ran over and hugged his sister tightly. "Sara, you're the best sister ever!"

"You get the sleeping bags, I'll get the snacks and rinks. Meet ya downstairs?"

"You bet!" as Sara left the room her mother gave her a grateful look. Milo eagerly got out the sleeping bags from his closet, for a little while forgetting the dance, looking forward to enjoying his favorite show ever with one of his favorite people in the world.

Meanwhile the class introductions were almost over.

"Lisa Ann Thomas,"Midler said as she came down. "Zachary Allan Underwood," and once again she was greeted with silence and an empty spotlight. Amanda couldn't help but smile inwardly to herself.

"Look all you want, he's not there," she thought.

Sara and Milo had settled on the couch with the snacks on the side table next to them. Sara picked up the remote. "You all ready, Bro?"

"Yeah," he smiled. Just then the doorbell rang. He looked up curiously. "Who could that be?" He got up to answer it, amazed at what he saw on the other side.

"Surprise!" Zack and Melissa said happily, holding their guitar cases.

*- My Little Heart


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don;t own any of the characters in Milo Murphy's Law. I'm just waiting for season 3 

Milo stared with a mixture of surprise and happiness at his two best friends. "Melissa? Zack? What are you guys doing here?!" He stood to the side to let them in.

Melissa glanced at the tv. "Oh, you guys are watching Dr Zone? Hey, is that the tenth season? You guys finally got it."

"Yeah," Milo said. "But why aren't you at the dance?"

"What dance?" Melissa asked.

"What dance? The 8th Grade Dance! The one everyone's at right now."

"Everyone except us," Zack said. "We're not going to it, Milo."

"What? But, why not? This is the Biggest Event of 8th Grade! You gotta go to it!"

"No, Milo, not without you!" Melissa said. "You're our best friend, we're not doing anything if you're not there with us!"

"If they don't want you at the Dance, Milo, then they don't get us, either," Zack said.

"I couldn't ask you to do that!"

"You didn't have to ask, Milo, we're doing it anyway," Zack said. "We're the Three Muskateers, and if one of us is out, we're all out!"

"Besides, Milo, anything without you is gonna be super boring," Melissa said. "You MAKE everything!" She put her hand on his shoulder. "We love you, Milo. You're one-of-a-kind, and nothing would be the same without you. No matter what happens, let's do it together!"

"If you stay, we stay," Zack said. "No way I'm doing anything without my best friend!"

"Me neither," Melissa said.

For a few moments Milo couldn't speak, he was suddenly afraid he might cry. "I...I don't know what to say..." he finally said.

"Say you're up for a practice in the backyard?" Zack asked as he and Melissa held up their guitars.

"And how!" Milo cried out. "Let me get my accordian!"

"Hey, you guys weren't gonna be doing this without me, were you?" Mort suddenly asked as he rolled his drum set up the walk. "I'm only the drummer!"

"Mort!" Milo cried out happily. "You didn't go either?"

"Why should I?" Mort said. "The whole band goes, or none of us go!"

This time a small tear did leak out of Milo's eye, and he quickly brushed it away. "Wow...you guys are the best friends ever!" he replied, choking on his words. "Come on, let's set up!" he quickly glanced at Sara to make sure this was OK with her. She nodded happily, thankful that Milo didn't see the tears in her own eyes, or the ones in his mother's, who was watching from the doorway.

Meanwhile, the 8th Grade Dance was in full swing. The band was playing one dance hit after another, the decorations were perfectly symmetrical and all in the right place, the food had been served exactly on time and had been delicious, and there wasn't one mishap! Everything was just right, exactly the way Amanda liked it.

So why was she feeling like she wanted to disappear?

Amanda sat down at her place at the nearest table, folding her hands in front of her. A few moments later Bradley came over to her,

"Well, Amanda, you did a great job, I have to admit it. The music is great, the food was superb, and there's no mayhem at all!"

"Yeah, the perfect night," Amanda agreed. She looked down at her hands. "But..I feel so awful..."

"Are you all right? You look rather pale."

"I don't know," she admitted, getting up from the chair.

"Amanda, what is it? This is your night, ya know! Everything is perfect and everyone is having fun, isn't that what you want?"

"Yes...no...I don't know..." Amanda admitted. "Excuse me.." she jumped up from her chair and ran out of the room, with Bradley and Chad both staring after her.

"What do you suppose has eaten HER?" Bradley asked. Lydia looked at her with a worried look in her eyes. "She should be overjoyed, the dance came off without a hitch! No disasters at all, for obvious reasons. She's succeeded, she's pulled it off, she's..."

"Miserable," Lydia and Chad finished up.

Amanda walked out of the big double doors into the main hallway, sitting on one of the white chairs near the door. She had never felt less like celebrating anything in her life, even if she WAS in charge of this. In a way Bradley was right, everything was perfect, everything was going smoothly. So why didn't it FEEL perfect? She couldn't shake the fact that something was missing...something was out of place. But...how could that be possible? She made sure everything was going according to schedule, everything was just right, everybody was enjoying themselves...

Almost everybody was that is.

Who was she kidding?! She knew what was wrong. It was Milo. HE was missing. HE was out of place. This dance might be running smoothly...but it was also so formal...TOO formal. It was boring! Everything was going perfectly...but without a little unpredictability, it was no fun at all!

A slow romantic song began to play from the other side of the doors. Amanda got up from the chair and peeked through one of the round windows to see. The lights had dimmed and couples were the only ones left on the floor. Amanda watched this scene with a heavy heart, wishing she were out there on that floor, dancing to that romantic song..

with Milo in her arms. "Milo," she let the name escape her before the scene before her began to blur. She quickly turned away and collapsed on the chair. She fingered the beautiful corsage on her wrist as she thought of her mother's words again.

'Concentrate on those feelings, Miel. Think long and hard about them, and then you will have your answer.'

Amanda closed her eyes, thinking hard...and finally realizing the truth. She DID love him! She was in love with Milo Murphy! Murphy's Law be damned, there wasn't anyone like him in the whole world, and it took her THIS long to see it!

'Oh Milo,' she thought to herself. 'All my life I was obsessed with order and perfection, and I couldn't even see that someone perfect for me was right in front of me the whole time! I don't want to be at this dance, I want to be with YOU!'

Finally the whole room turned into a blurry mess, but she couldn't stop herself. Putting her head in her hands, she began to cry.

"Amanda?" came a concerned voice. She looked up to see Lydia standing over her, holding out a tissue. "It's OK, I miss him too."

"Lydia, what are you doing out here?"

"My best friend is miserable and I shouldn't be out here?! If you're gonna assign me to have fun, this is one time I'm not doing what you say," she sat down in the chair next to her and out her hand on hers. "Amanda...stop fooling yourself. You don't wanna even be here," Amanda looked down and shook her head slowly. "Then...why are you?"

"Because...I'm the head of the committees and it;s my job to make sure everything goes smoothly..."

"And you suceeded, Amanda! Look around you, everything is fantastic. You've DONE your job, and you did it great! Now it's time to think about YOU."

"But I should still be here..."

"WHY, Amanda? You did your job! You did everything, and everything came out right. You don;t have to stay here anymore."

"But what if."

"Amanda, trust me! I'll handle everything! I can stay and take over. We both know there;'s someplace else you need to be right now. So go!"

Amanda slowly smiled, stood up, and gave Lydia a huge hug.

"Go, Amanda. Follow your heart!"


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Milo Murphy's Law. Just waiting for season 3 to come.

As soon as Amanda had gone down the hall Lydia heard Principal Milder come to the microphone. She walked back into the Ballroom in time to hear her. 

"Is this thing on? OK, is everyone having a good time tonight?" She waited for the applause to die down. "Good, good. Well, before we go any further...I think we should take the time to really thank the person who helped put together this wonderful evening. Let's hear it for Amanda Lopez!" As the audience applauded, Milder smiled. "Come on up here, Amanda!" Lydia knew she would have to take over quick before anyone noticed Amanda was gone. So she rushed up to the mike.

"Thanks for coming tonight, everyone. Amanda had to rush out, it was a last minute thing, so I'm filling in for her for the rest of the night. But I know she's glad that every one of you managed to make it..."

Amanda ran out the door of the Great Hall and for a moment stopped and looked around, unsure of where to go at that point. She looked down at her clasped hands, realising for the first time just what she did! She looked back at the dance, she actually left. She, the one who put the whole thing together, who was always obsessed with everything going smoothly, who put perfection before everything else, just ran out on the dance she had worked so hard to put together!

All for Milo!

She looked up at the sky. It was supposed to be impossible! You weren't supposed to be in love...really deep down in love..with someone who was so very different from you! Not personality-wise, but physically. He was a carrier of Murphy's Law! And she was always such a perfectionist who had a touch of OCD! She wasn't supposed to fall in love with someone like him!

But she did!

Suddenly she heard a familiar car honk and turned around to see her family's white sedan pull up in front of her with Teresa at the wheel.

"What took you so long, Hermana?" She asked. "Hurry up and get in! You don't want to miss your own band's concert, fine manager you would be if you did!"

Amanda quickly threw open the door and climbed inside. "Concert?" she asked.

"Big outdoor band concert happening right now, Ms. Manager! A fine one you'd be if you didn't show up to it! Here!" She threw the white dress that she had worked on to her. "Gotta wear something nice to it, don;t you think?" As Amanda changed Teresa took her to Milo's house.

"But, Teresa, how did you know?" Amanda asked her sister.

"I had a hunch you would be doing something like this. Been hiding in the parking lot for about an hour waiting for you to come to your senses," she stopped at a red light and turned to her sister. "Now will you admit it? You want to be with that boy, regardless of anything and everything?"

Amanda looked up. "Yes, I do," she confessed.

"Despite his condition? It might not be always perfect, might be a bit chaotic. You've literally grown up with it. You've seen what can happen. You want that anyway, Hermana?"

Amanda looked at her own folded hands on her lap. "Despite his condition...yes! I know now there's much more to him than that! There's no one warmer, sweeter, and kinder. Teresa...take me to his home, por favor?"

Teresa smiled and sat back in her seat. "I knew it! Just listen to big sister!" she laughed a bit and gunned the engine.

Meanwhile at Milo's house, like Teresa said, the last-minute concert she had mentioned was underway. Milo, Mort, Zack, and Melissa were gathered on the porch of the house, making sure they were far away from the trees or the gutters, playing their instruments. Brigette, Sara, Martin, and Neil were sitting at the picnic table. Cavandish, Dakota, and Doofenshmirtz were sitting in various chairs tapping their feet to the tunes. "Forget any school dance, this is where the REAL party is!" Doof said to Dakota, tapping his feet to the music. By the time Teresa had driven up to the house, they were already on their third song.

Amanda looked at the house, then over at Teresa. She smiled. "Go, little sister! Someone's waiting!" Amanda opened the door, then to Teresa's surprise turned and gave her sister a huge hug before climbing out and following the music around the house into the backyard.

As she stepped slowly into the backyard she took in the makeshift stage in the backyard and the band playing their impromptu concert. Milo turned around at the sound of the gate opening and his eyes lit up with surprise and happiness at the sight of Amanda. Amanda happily smiled back at him. Brigette turned and gave Amanda a warm smile of her own as she gestured for Amanda to come in. Milo beamed and nearly dropped his accordian at the sight of Amanda in the beautiful white dress. Fortunately he managed to catch himself in time and smiled sheeplishly at her as he continued with the song the band was just finishing up. Amanda smiled and made her way shyly to the front of the stage as everyone clapped.

Brigette stood up. "We have some refreshments all ready for the entertainment if someone will volenteer to help set up!" Zack and Melissa were quick to volenteer as they came down from the stage. Milo made his way to Amanda.

Milo looked at her with surprise and happiness. "Amanda!" he cried out.

"Hi, Milo," she said quietly. "That was terrific!"

"Thanks!" he checked his watch. "Is the dance over already?"

"No, Milo, I left early."

Milo looked at her with surprise. "Left early? You?!"

"Yes, Milo."

"But why? You're the Head of the Commitees, you're obligated to be there."

"I was, and I did. But...there's someplace else I needed to be right now," she quietly took his hand. "And someone else I needed to be with."

"But, won't you get in trouble if they find out you're gone?"

"Lydia is filling in for me. Besides, everything is going great down there. They don't need me anymore...and I don't need to be there anymore. I don't even WANT to be there anymore. It was getting...boring," she looked into Milo's eyes. "And honestly...all I did all evening was think of you. I realized I didn't even want to be there...if you can't be there with me."

Milo started to blush. "Aw, Amanda..."

"I mean it, Milo," she touched his cheek. "I...really care about you. I realize that you're so important to me. I'd rather be right here next to you then anywhere with anyone else."

"Really?"

"Really."


	10. Chapter 10

**Banned From The Ball- Chapter 10**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Milo. **

Milo smiled and gentily squeezed Amanda's hand. "I really care about you too, Amanda. I was just thinking about you before we started singing and was wondering how the dance was going."

"It's going all right, Milo. But it was just so...ordinary without you. I mean, I know that I've always said that I like order and everything just so, but...maybe I want something else too. Maybe I realize that a little excitement isn't so bad, especially when it's with you."

"Amanda," Milo began but he was cut off when to his surprise Amanda gentily kissed him on the cheek. The blush began again on his cheeks as he looked into her lovely brown eyes.

Meanwhile Melissa was quietly watching from the screen door, beaming from ear to ear and mentally cheering him on. "Come on, come on!" she thought. "Now or never!" She saw Milo tenderly put his hand on Amanda's shoulder and she quietly rooted from him to move closer.

Almost as if something was drawing him, he moved closer to Amanda. Seeing her in the moonlight in her beautiful white dress made his heart skip a beat. Suddenly he realized something. He tenderly fingered the star necklace around her neck. "You're wearing it."

"I love it, Milo! I haven't taken this off since you gave it to me."

"It looks so beautiful on you. The minute they gave this to me, I knew I wanted to give it to you."

"Really, Milo?"

"Really," he looked down, suddenly feeling shy. "I think...deep down..I was asking you..if you would...maybe...be my girlfriend..."

Amanda looked at him with happy tears in her eyes and threw her arms around Milo. "Milo...that's what I was going to ask you tonight!"

Milo stared at her, almost as of he couldn't believe it. "Really, Amanda?"

"Yes. You're the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met. I want to be with you, Milo, no matter what."

"What about Murphy's Law? I don;t want top be responsible for ruining anything else you've planned..."

"You never do, Milo," Amanda said. "That's one of the things I admire the most about you! No matter what might happen you always have a way to fix it. You're so dependable and smart, and you never give up!" she gazed into her eyes. "Milo...I want to be with you!"

Milo beamed at this and looked tenderly into her eyes again. Slowly he drew her closer. Amanda slowly wrapped her arms around Milo's neck as they came closer. Her own heart beat so loudly in her chest she was surprised if Milo couldn't feel it. His eyes were so warm, so sweet. She could barely control herself as she came even closer. It was happening...it was really happening! Slowly she closed her eyes as she felt his lips tenderly touch hers.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Her first kiss! Her very first kiss! She could feel from Milo's reaction it was his first as well. Her heart was practically doing backflips and she saw stars in her eyes. When they softly pulled away she tenderly stroked his cheek. "Booyah!" she said quietly.

Milo smiled. "Yeah," he said.

"You realize what this means now?" she said teasingly to Milo.

"What?"

"Now you have to be my boyfriend," she said.

Milo smiled and drew her into a hug. "Best thing that happened to me all night."

"For me too," Amanda reassured him

Meanwhile Melissa beamed from her place at the screen door as a tear of joy escaped from her eye. She quickly brushed it off as she watched the scene in front of her with delight, happy because her very best friend was happy. Milo noticed her watching and she gave him a thumbs up. Milo smiled back and softly pulled Amanda into another hug.

Melissa noticed the radio on the front porch. Carefully she tiptoed over and turned it on to some slow music before running back into the house. Milo smiled and bowed to Amanda. "Would you care to dance?"

Amanda smiled and curtsied. "I'd love to."

Milo tenderly put his arms around her and they began to dance happily underneath the moon, both of them knowing that this was without a doubt one of the most special nights either one of them had ever had.

THE END


End file.
